Alumni Fund Centers and Institutes Recent private gifts launch and support areas of excellence.
Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy Rich, BA ’66, JD ’68, and Nancy Kinder have given a total of $35 million to found and support the institute, which looks at U.S. constitutional and democratic traditions through education and scholarship. Students can earn bachelor’s or graduate degrees as well as study domestically in Washington, D.C., or abroad at the University of Oxford.
Evan Kshetri checks out a robotics booth brought to the St. Louis Science Center by University of Missouri researchers, who shared their work through engaging, hands-on activities.
communities, perhaps for STEM-related education efforts. ARIS recently lauded a Vanderbilt University scholar for serving as “head scientist” at a Nashville middle school. Similarly, MU investigators travel to schools and other venues, such as the Saint Louis Science Center, Lucas Oil Speedway or movie theaters to bring their work to Missourians. These initiatives continue online during the pandemic. MU was early to help its researchers with integrating engagement into their research plans and measuring the impact. Mizzou’s hosting of the 2013 summit led to a small grant to form a national alliance, which blossomed to more than 800 members including not only research universities but also technical schools, community colleges, nonprofit institutions including zoos and aquariums, as well as industry partners and private consultants. “When you start measuring the impact and getting the information out to the community,” Renoe says, “you’re changing people’s minds about higher education.”
MICHAEL HICKS
Improving Learning for Students
Research thrusts like the rural student mental health center and eMINTS have obvious community impact. Their investigators travel to schools across the state — and, for that matter, across the country. The effort to improve mental
health in rural schools, for example, will partner not only with Missouri educators but also in Virginia’s Appalachian region and into such thinly populated parts of Montana that they’re called “frontier” counties. “We want to make sure whatever we’re building works for them, as well,” Reinke says. eMINTS has a 20-year head start, having launched in 1999. Through the years, the project has seen its methods adopted by schools in 14 states, from Utah to Virginia to Maine. Its new and largest grant will focus on 40 schools in rural Missouri and Kansas — with another 40 schools as a control group not participating — to test its ever-refined program that trains teachers how best to use technology in classrooms. Although it changes to keep pace with new tech and classroom needs, the program has worked, judging from the success of eMINTS in finding grant money. Perhaps in a sign of maturity, the center also hopes to sell its services to schools and teachers, generating income that could supplement and perhaps replace grants. Grants are great, says center director Brinkerhoff, but independent income would ensure the center can long continue its mission: “Our goal remains how to improve learning for students.” M About the author: David LaGesse, BJ ’79, a former staff writer for U.S. News & World Report and The Dallas Morning News, has also published in Money, The Washington Post and National Geographic.
Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism Documentary journalism students combine the School of Journalism’s trademark careful reporting with a visual storytelling form through courses at the center Murray, BJ ’77, founded with a $6.7 million gift. The center offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and the curriculum harnesses not only classroom experiences but also the Missouri Method’s hands-on approach. Novak Leadership Institute The Novaks — David, BJ ’74, and Wendy, BJ ’74 — founded the institute with a $21.6 million gift and a people-first mission. David developed a leadership style based on advertising and strategic communication principles while serving as chair and CEO of Yum! Brands. Students take courses and engage in service activities through the only institute for strategic communication leadership. FALL 2020 27
